The Other Side
by Bamon
Summary: We have all read stories about Sarah having to complete with another woman for Jareth with her being the starring role. However, what about such a story from the other woman's POV? What if she, for once, was the right one for him? Well, this is what 'The Other Side' explores in a brand new story with a very unique plot. Come on in and indulge in your wicked side!
1. Chapter 1

**The Other Side.**

Chapter One: Achy Breaky Heart.

She couldn't quite believe this was really happening. She had been best friends with Jareth since she was five years old. She'd developed a crush when she was fifteen, and now at the age of twenty eight she knew she was undoubtedly in love with him.

She had thought it had been an entirely hopeless thing, her love for him. After all she was only half fae, and although her mother was best friends with Jareth's mother - the High Queen - she knew she wasn't what a Fae was known for. She wasn't a slim, ethereal beauty that could ensnare a heart with one look, or sing like a songbird, with all the grace of a Swan.

She was tall though, although she was pretty sure that didn't mean much in the long run. She had piercing cobalt blue eyes as well which were beautiful, something she had inherited from her mother as well as the clear complexion. However it seemed she took after her father more. It got clearer as she grew up. She could not eat anything she wanted and still stay slim. Infact she was rather chubby, although she wore it well which she knew was mostly due to her height. She had a bit of extra weight on her tummy, maybe her thighs were a bit bigger then they had to be, and she had small breasts, but she did have nice legs - her pure Fae cousin said so - and well, she was particularly happy with the infamous maternal line large bottom as well her caramel coloured hair. Well, the colour anyway. Unfortunately her hair was fine and straight. Not the thick, beautiful curls her mother had. Not only that but despite her physical maturity she was still extremely young - so much so she was called a child frequently - by Fae standards.

Due to all of this she had been sure she'd never have a chance with Jareth.

Yet just yesterday his parents, the High King and Queen, had stopped by with his proposal. She knew it was, perhaps, irregular that his parents asked her for him but she put it down to him either being shy in this new territory or perhaps concerned he'd ruin their friendship by asking. Now she was here - at the _palace_! - waiting for Jareth to arrive so they could have dinner to plan their engagement ceremony.

Biting her bottom lip, she took a deep breath before heading down the corridor towards the family dining room where her mother and Jareth's parents were currently talking.

Saffie had needed a moment before entering to calm herself. She didn't want to seem like one of those women at court who simpered, flirted, and clung to him indecently. She loved him unlike those women who only loved the promise of the High Queen's crown when he, eventually, took over for his father.

Her hope to be with him and inevitably crashed and burned when Sarah entered Jareth's life. Not only had The Witch predicted the girl, before she was born, as his destined mate but the second Jareth had first seen her as a small toddler he had been enraptured. All he had ever been able to talk about since he first saw her was her. It was always Sarah this and Sarah that. She had grinned and bared it, knowing it was extremely unlikely Sarah would ever be an actual part of Jareth's life. After all Sarah was all mortal, all human, and despite being a believer as a child of fantasy most humans lost it as they grew older. Not only that but those that didn't would not end up in the Underground anyway. The most that happened is the rare few could see what few 'fantasy' creatures still lived in the Aboveground. Nothing more and nothing less.

Then Sarah wished her brother away and Saffie had felt as if the ground beneath her feet had suddenly disappeared. He'd told her straight away of course saying he just had to tell his best friend. He even went out of his way to say he was going to court the girl by not only giving her Fae fruit, but taking her into a fairy circle, sing to her, and then propose! Propose. Marriage. Those next hours had felt unbearable, consisting of a lot of stuffed animal throwing, before out of the blue Jareth had turned up early the next morning in his owl form. Then he'd told her Sarah had rejected him, and she'd done the best friend thing of comforting him.

She was furious at Sarah for not realising what she had lost, for treating Jareth so badly, and she also felt sorry for Jareth for having to feel this pain. She also, naturally, felt supremely relieved. He was still unwed. She knew it was selfish and perhaps cruel, but she still had a chance. A chance was enough to calm her spirits and give her a boost. She'd be clearer this time. She'd try to catch his eye as a woman this time...

At least that was the promises she had made herself that night. However despite how happy with who she was as a person she hadn't the confidence to even find a book on how to flirt, to seduce, let alone do it and so things seemed to go back to the way they were.

He had given her flowers lately from his own garden, and conjured chocolate when she'd had a particular craving for them. Now that she looked back on it she could see how it could have been signs, tentative gestures, into furthering their relationship to more then just friends.

Blushing, she bit her lip as she forced such thoughts to the back of her mind. Saffie knew she'd have to focus to be able to get through this evening without acting like a lovesick fool. She was not about to embarass herself or Jareth. It would do no good to have him change his mind. She knew it was unlikely, he was a man of his word if nothing else, but there was always that fear in the back of her mind that she just wasn't good enough in his eyes.

He had proven her wrong and she wanted it to stay that way.

She smoothed down the skirt of the simple, modest, traditional gown as typical of the Fae. At least, it used to be. Now there was a more revealing take on the traditional dress but Saffie refused to wear it. She knew she wouldn't feel comfortable in something like that and as far as she was concerned comfort was what should be considered when dressing.

With a soft smile at the Brownie Guards at the large double doors, she stepped forward. The doors swung open smoothly as Saffie managed to walk inside and up to the dining room table without making a fool of herself. A quick glance told her that Jareth wasn't here yet.

It was mere seconds though after she sat down beside her mother that another pair of double doors flew open of their own accord. Jareth strode in with a fierce, majestic anger vibrating from every muscle in his body as his mismatched eyes locked upon the forms of his mother and father.

Saffie was confused, briefly, over why he seemed so angry. She parted her lips to speak, to ask what was wrong, only she was cut off by Jareth speaking.

"How could you do this?! I told you I shall marry no other then Sarah! Why would you be so cruel?!"

He snapped, magic sparking and crackling around him. He briefly spotted Saffie in the room before continuing his tirade.

"You would be so cruel as to force the pair of us into marriage?! Its ridiculous! We're best friends and that is all we'll ever be. I am not her type and she is definitely not mine."

The High Queen narrowed her eyes at her son until his gaze left his father and met her own.

"And your _type_ would be?"

"Beautiful. Intelligent. Full of fire. With a good, pure heart full of compassion. This is why I shall only marry Sarah and _no other_."

With that Jareth disappeared in a poof of glitter leaving a horrid silence in his wake.

She wasn't beautiful. She wasn't intelligent. She wasn't full of fire. She didn't have a good, pure heart full of compassion.

At least she wasn't any of that to Jareth... Had the rumours he'd merely been pitying her, pretending to be her friend, true then? Was she really just that disfigured puppy that you couldn't get rid of due to a bloodline but you had to keep it around just to be seen as doing the right thing?

"He... doesn't want me? He... didn't propose?"

Saffie whispered brokenly, her gaze finally leaving the spot where Jareth had been to her mother and his parents. One look at them told her they knew of her feelings for the Goblin King. They had probably even organised this whole thing so she'd have a chance to be with him in a misguided way of helping. Before anyone could offer their sympathy she spun on the spot, her hand creating a diamond heart that had once been blood red - the colour of love - but was now dark burgundy and quickly fading to black - a clear sign of heartbreak - which she promptly smashed onto the ground at her feet.

She disappeared before their eyes and then later reappeared in her private bedchambers. It was only then she truly let herself break down, ripping the dress from her body, her hair out of its precise design, and then proceeded to create as well as smash more diamond hearts against various points of her room.

How could this be happening? Maybe she was over-reacting a little but she'd been there for him for her entire life. She had helped him with everything. She'd always gotten him out of trouble. She'd done anything and everything for him, anything and everything he asked, and god she had been in love with him so long she couldn't even remember when it had begun. Whilst Jareth was no stranger to women he had never been serious about them. She had never felt threatened. Now that Jareth was obsessed with this mortal girl Sarah everything was crumbling to ruins.

What was wrong with her?

She knew what was wrong with her. She wasn't a pure Fae or pure Mortal. She wasn't beautiful either. She didn't have a flat stomach and generous curves in all the right places.

Sarah was what he wanted.

"Sarah..."

Saffie whispered, and as much as her heart felt guilty, a plan began to brew in her mind. Jareth would never forgive her if he found out but then again, he didn't have to find out, did he? It wasn't as if she'd kill Sarah. She wasn't that far gone. However, if she could just trade places with Sarah, make Sarah forget everything, then she could just pretend to be Sarah and be with Jareth. It would be better then nothing, right? Jareth didn't want her. He wanted Sarah. He probably wouldn't even care when he was told that she had memory loss - she who was really Sarah inside her body - and would never be the same again. He'd probably do the right period of grief and then focus on Sarah again.

For a moment Saffie just stared at herself in her cracked mirror on her dresser, tears pouring down her red face as her dark side and pure heart warred with each other.

On one hand she could continue to suffer. She could let Jareth be with Sarah, a girl that clearly didn't deserve him, and suffer from a broken heart as well as watch on with envy as Sarah had everything she ever dreamed of - a love with Jareth, a life with Jareth, a marriage with Jareth, and a family with Jareth.

Or she could do something about it and trade places. Sarah would be alive and well. She would be taken care of. She'd never want for anything. All inexchange for her memories and body. Plus, Sarah would get to explore all of the Underground whilst being admired and having her dreams become reality. Then she, Saffie, could take Sarah's place and have her own dreams become reality, in a way.

Put that way it was clear the second option was best. After all, it allowed them both to have their dreams become reality.

Yet even as she convinced herself of this she found herself staring back into her mirror as she spoke two last words before she put her plan into action;

"I'm sorry."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Other Side.**

Chapter Two: Only Girl In The World.

With a black diamond heart and a flurry of black rose petals, Saffie appeared in Sarah's childhood bedroom. She was not surprised to see Sarah jump, startled, at her sudden appearance.

"Lady Sarah, Champion of the Labyrinth. I am in desperate need of your help."

Saffie spoke, her voice breaking slightly on her plea. She watched as Sarah's soft heart came to the forefront although she did still seem cautious.

"I'm in dire trouble! Someone is trying to kill me and I can do nothing to disuade him. I have only one choice; to become human, but to do that I need a human to help me. There is a potion... We mix it with your blood and mine. It then converts my DNA from Fae to Human using your human DNA as a foundation to the human DNA sequence. We don't have much time. They're going to find me soon!"

It seemed Sarah could not ignore a plea for help, especially when it was a woman in tears, and with some encouragement they had soon mixed and both drank the potion that would alter destiny's plans once and for all.

Sarah's body dropped to the floor the instance after she'd swallowed the potion. The intense, fiery burning feeling Saffie felt as the potion took effect was all worth it in her opinion as her soul and Sarah's swapped bodies. She blanked out for a moment as the exchange happened, two shining balls of light - their souls - rising out of their chests and slamming into the other's chest.

When Saffie came round a second later she noticed she was on the floor and managed to sit up in time to watch light blue-white sparks - like fireflies - rise out of her body's head before exploding into nothingness. Saffie's mouth fell into a smile as she realised the potion had worked, their bodies were swapped and Sarah's memories were gone. Sarah would remember nothing. Of course guilt entered her heart for a moment but she forced herself to push it aside before testing if she still had her Fae abilities.

With a twist of her hand a black diamond heart appeared in her hand, to her relief, and after designating what she wished it to do she threw it at Sarah in her body. Sarah disappeared, going to Saffie's bedroom, and Saffie breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her plan had worked. It was all over. For all intents and purposes, as far as anyone knew, she was now Lady Sarah, Champion of the Labyrinth.

"I will not feel guilty about going for what I want. He'll be happy with me, he just doesn't realise it yet."

Saffie spoke out loud, confirming the facts to herself as she stood up and brushed herself off. Human clothing was little to be desired but at least Sarah had a more modest and innocent taste in clothing. She could feel comfortable in these clothes.

* * *

It was a few days later after she'd managed to convince Sarah's stepmother Karen, Sarah's father Robert, and Sarah's brother Toby that nothing was different that Jareth appeared. Saffie had just gotten into bed, drawing the blankets up to her chin, when the poof of glitter came and Jareth appeared from its midst.

"Jareth!"

Saffie gasped, her eyes wide and butterflies filling her chest and tummy as she noticed the intense look in her true love's eyes.

"Mmm... I'm so glad you remember me precious thing."

He purred causing Saffie to blush bright red at the nickname. It was so easy in that moment to forget she was pretending to be Sarah when he made no move to call her by Sarah's name. A nickname, one so affectionate and full of passion, easily over-rode the facts and had Saffie's heart taking full control.

"Jareth, what are you doing here?! You can't just visit a lady's bedchambers in the middle of the night. People will assume many dishonourable things!"

Saffie snapped at him as she sat there, blankets still clutched up to her chin as she tried to calm down her beating heart and the butterflies currently swarming around inside her. She watched as he stalked towards the bed with all the grace of a majestic, powerful, and dangerous predator. His eyes were intense and smoking, his attention clearly fixated on her and her alone. It was a heady feeling and Saffie found herself leaning towards him as she dropped the blankets, desperate for her every fantasy to come true. It was so easy in that moment to believe all he ever wanted was her...

"Oh precious, I want to do more then dishonourable things with you."

He purred, a smirk upon his lips as his fingertips trailed up one arm to the side of her neck which he cupped in his strong, soft, gloved hand.

_'Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! He's touching me. He's looking at me as if he wants to ravage every inch of me. Oh my god! What do I do? Do I let him...? No! Not without a ring. I must do the right, proper thing and wait for my wedding night. I want romance... Yes, let him romance me first and propose. Oh god! I can't believe this is happening.'_

These were the thoughts that raced through Saffie's mind as she stared into those beautiful, mismatched eyes of his.

"That is entirely inappropriate. All of this is. I demand you leave at once and call on me at an appropriate hour in the appropriate way."

She told him in an even tone even though the inside of her was all a dizzy with the most amazing feelings he always (and some new) brought out in her. She watched as he tilted his head at her briefly and found his gaze seemed to almost examine her even though their gaze never left her eyes.

"You're different."

Jareth stated, his tone light and curious. For now.

"Your labyrinth changed me Jareth. I've grown up and not just in personality. Its been years since that night. You can't expect me to be the same selfish, dramatic girl I was back then?"

Saffie replied, quickly scrounging up the excuse she'd planned before hand should he ever ask such a question.

"Of course not."

He responded thoughtfully. His gaze seemed to examine every inch of her face and deep into her eyes for a moment before he leaned in towards her lips, bending over to reach her.

Meanwhile Saffie's heart suddenly began doing back flips in her chest as she realised Jareth was about to kiss her. Her first kiss. Their first kiss. The kiss she had dreamt of for so long and had always feared would never come true.

Then his lips touched hers and it felt like the second their lips met an inferno in sparks ignited within her, or them, which completely overwhelmed her. She didn't even notice when she leapt up onto her knees, her hands raking through his wild blonde hair as she pressed herself as hard against him as possible. She just wanted to be buried inside him, the need was so desperate that she didn't even think about the fact she had no experience about intimate touches, lustful or affectionate, and thus despite the fiery, all-consuming passion being there the technique definitely wasn't and she was infact very clumsy thus making the kiss painful for Jareth rather then pleasurable. However for her, for Saffie who had waited so long, it was the most amazing thing in her life.

_He wanted her._

"Wait. Wait. Sarah!"

Jareth chuckled, his hands cupping her cheeks as he pulled her face away from his a little bit as he appreciated her enthusiasim.

Saffie, at first, blushed at her lack of control and finesse but after a few moments when she realised what name he'd called her she felt her world coming crashing down once more. _I'm in Sarah's body._

"Let me show you."

He purred softly, leaning in once more to kiss her only this time Saffie - unable to contain or ignore her own hurt - turned her head so his lips met her cheek. She closed her eyes knowing she needed to get control of herself before she ended up crying and confessing all. She'd come this far she couldn't turn away now. Maybe she could pretend Sarah had a middle name, something that could be short for her real name and then convince Jareth to just call her that so she could go back to her almost-fantasy-come-true.

"Sar-?"

Saffie quickly interrupted him, definitely not wanting to her _that _name again.

"Please call me Rona."

It was the best she could come up with in the spur of the moment. It sounded pretty decent though. The first three letters were the last letters in her name, Saffron, and with the 'a' at the end it sounded like a plausible name. Not only that but whilst it was obvious to her the connection, it wouldn't be obvious to anyone else. His questioning eyebrow told her what he was going to say before he said it. She could read him like a book - always could and always will.

"Its my middle name. I've heard Sarah being yelled too many times for me to have any fondness for it."

She added, although she wasn't quite lieing when she admitted she had no fondness for the name Sarah anymore.

"Rona," he breathed, "I've wanted you for so long."

He breathed, his voice so soft and seductive that it only took seconds for Saffie to succumb to it. Her heart felt heavy despite its racing beat, and she felt the butterflies in her stomach as she heard words she'd definitely had him saying in her fantasies many times before. He'd told her so many times in so many different ways in her mind how she was The One, would always be The One, and had always, _always_ loved her. Just her. Who could blame her for sinking back into her almost-fantasy-coming-true haze when that was happening?

"Really?"

She asked softly, tentatively, as her eyelids fluttered and her hands lifted to grip his shoulders as she tried so valiantly to anchor herself in reality. However when he leaned forward again with his eyes on hers filled with everything she'd dreamed of Saffie lost the fight as she let herself sink into the moment.

He was hers.

"More then you could ever imagine."

Saffie did nothing with her lips at first having learnt from earlier. She just enjoyed the feeling of his lips touching and teasing hers. A nip to her bottom lip, firm but playful, surprised her and she gasped, startled. Jareth took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside her mouth and before she knew it he was caressing her tongue and encouraging her, teaching her, to do the same. She was still clumsy but the enthusiasim roared back with a vengence within moments and she found herself pressing her body against his once more as she gripped his hair at the base of his neck.

It wasn't long before Jareth provoked a small, quiet moan out of her and after a deeper, more thoroughly erotic kiss her moans grew louder as without her conscious knowledge her hips began rocking instinctively with a deep need for its Mate to fill. She didn't even realise she had somehow become straddled over one muscular thigh but she did notice when his hands slid down to her rear, grasping each round globe with a lust-filled growl.

"Tell me what you wish."

He asked her, his voice a deep, rumbling drawl as he looked deep into her glazed eyes.

Saffie was only too happy to oblige.

"I wish Jareth, the Goblin King, would take me away right now."

It was a wish her heart had made several times over but it felt so much _better_ out loud. It was real. He was hers. She was his. This was the start of their new life together and in that one blinded moment Saffie felt like the luckiest girl in the world.


End file.
